Leaning into 2013: how to make meditation a near-daily pleasure.

Posted on by
2

I’ve been thinking a lot this December about what changes I’d like to make in 2013.

In the past, I usually didn’t think much about it at all, and when I did, my thoughts on the matter all took place in the last week of the year, after Christmas.

Unfortunately, my New Year resolutions were usually short-lived.

I’d like to change that. I’d like to become more disciplined, and I’d like to be realistic about what that means so I can actually make lasting changes in my life.

The problem is, I like to rebel against “the rules”, so when I set up strict rules for myself, I am setting myself up to break them. It’s counterproductive.

I spent a year meditating for 30 minutes nearly every day, and when that year was up, I rebelled and didn’t meditate every day any more. My sitting practice became sporadic.

I’d like to figure out a way to make meditation a pleasure.

One possibility: Instead of creating a rule to meditate for 30 minutes every day, I can meditate for at least 15 minutes 5 out of 7 days.

I like that flexibility. However, it still sounds like a chore. Why am I making meditation such a joyless task to be done somewhat regularly and checked off a list?

Looking at what keeps me from meditating: I often allow myself to get sucked into reading email and checking Facebook, my online massage booking site, Twitter, Tumblr, blog stats, and so on in the morning, and before I know it, it’s time to get ready for work, and I haven’t meditated.

And…if I don’t meditate in the morning, it usually doesn’t happen.

I don’t know why this is, except perhaps that it takes more effort to do nothing than you’d think, to tear myself away from my laptop and sit myself down on the cushion.

Once I start sitting, I actually love meditation. I love getting really present with myself, breathing, hearing, seeing (if my eyes are open), feeling my body, witnessing my thoughts, noticing my chakras open, experiencing the silent stillness that contains everything, even just feeling the little aches, pains, and tensions as I sit.

To experience this is a joy that keeps on giving throughout the day, somehow connecting me with resources that help me meet life with more equanimity and love, including self-love, than I could otherwise summon.

How can I make this a pleasure? It’s so much more rewarding than being online in terms of enhancing my well-being and the quality of my life, relationships, activities, decisions!

What if…I stay offline until I’ve meditated, and I make it my goal to meditate no longer than an hour, except when I really want to (and have time) to go longer? I can set the timer for an hour, end it then or when it seems complete, and be happy about it all.

Now we’re cooking!

Take the NLP personality profile

Posted on by
1

If you are interested in personality types like the MBTI or the Enneagram as a means of understanding others and yourself, you will be interested in the LifeSet Meta Program Questionnaire.

It measures meta-programs, which is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming term for patterns in cognitive strategies. They are contextual and not set in stone. The ones measured in this quiz are oriented toward work.

Click here to take the quiz to determine your preferences for motivational direction, feedback, relationships, learning, time management, and decision-making.

FYI, my results today were Toward, Internal, Other, Content, Present, and Different.

Mr. Rogers and 5 random acts of kindness for each person who died

Posted on by
Reply

This has been quoted on Facebook about how to help young children who encounter scary things in the news:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world. ~ Fred Rogers

Here’s a link to the whole web page from which the quote came.

This is part of why I don’t own a television:

The way that news is presented on television can be quite confusing for a young child. The same video segment may be shown over and over again through the day, as if each showing was a different event. Someone who has died turns up alive and then dies again and again. Children often become very anxious since they don’t understand much about videotape replays, closeups, and camera angles. Any televised danger seems close to home to them because the tragic scenes are taking place on the TV set in their own living room. Children can’t tell the difference between what’s close and what’s far away, what’s real and what’s pretend, or what’s new and what’s re-run.

It’s not just children who become very anxious. Your consciousness is taking it in. Even though I’ve been an adult for a long time, and I’ve been conditioned about what “reality” is, watching the events of 9-11 really brought it home to me: the way “the news” televises tragedies is traumatizing. So many replays, so much repetition to get all “the facts” right, so much effort to keep people glued to their sets, feeling horrified and helpless, while taking in those images and words over and over again.

Turn off the news. Go for a walk. Pray and take care of yourself and your family. And look for solutions.

One Facebook friend (Ginger Webb, whom I’ve never met but whose fabulous herbal products I buy and recommend) proposed doing five random acts of kindness for each person who died.

I like that. I so wish that our government would enact gun control laws and make treatment for PTSD free and accessible for everyone. We do not need to be as highly armed as we are, and we’re not doing a very good job keeping guns out of the hands of the emotionally disturbed.

It will take time and effort for that to happen, and it may not, judging by the past. This time could be different, though. Please let your voice be heard.

Meanwhile, put some good into the world. You never know how stressed or hurting someone might really be, and how meaningful your unexpected kindness could be.

What is it going to take?

Posted on by
Reply

I wish everyone would really take this in: Yet again, there has been a mass shooting in the United States of America, and this time it was at a grade school, and children and teachers were shot and killed, and apparently a family member of the extremely disturbed young shooter.

I haven’t been able to read, hear, or look at the news since seeing a few posts about it on Facebook yesterday and hearing a little more on the radio as I drove to work. The big picture is enough.

It is tragic when children die. It is gut-twisting horrifying when children die violently.

The children who survived have lost their carefree innocence forever. I pray they can rediscover joy within themselves when it’s time.

I wish everyone would really absorb this and think of what we as a nation need to do to ensure this does not happen again.

That no mass shooting ever takes place again.

That people who are seriously disturbed get referred to the most excellent help possible.

That we become a peaceful nation without the need for so many guns.

That the politicians just shut up and do the right thing because people’s lives real trump your theoretical principles.

I wish that every single politician and lobbyist who wants to jabber on about “protecting our right to bear arms” had to spend 15 minutes alone in a room with the parents of one of those children who died.

Amen.

How did you find this blog?

Posted on by
8

Yesterday this blog got 580 views. Today so far there have been 380.

Most days I get a lot fewer views. The average number of views per day in November was 109.

I have no idea why views spike like this. I can see that 120 views today were referred by links, including search engines, but that doesn’t explain 260 of the views.

I can also see on the site stats that my home page, The Well Ashiatsu and Massage, has been viewed 239 times today so far.

If you don’t mind, if you are reading this post, would you please tell me in the comments how you got to my site? I would love to be enlightened about this.

Give and save: Massage gift certificates and packets available

Posted on by
Reply

Okay, friends, it’s time. I will be raising my rates starting January 1, 2013, to $65 per hour. You can still get in at the $60 per hour rate before then, and you can buy packets to save as well!

  • Buy three 60-minute sessions for $60 per hour.
  • Buy five 60-minute sessions for $55 per hour.
  • Buy seven 60-minute sessions for $50 per hour.
  • You can split your time up into half-hour segments, using 30 or 90 minutes as you prefer.
  • You can design your own session: you can mix and match Ashiatsu, Swedish, and reflexology to meet your body’s needs.
  • Best of all, you can purchase a packet at a discount, give some sessions away (I offer nice gift certificates), and use the rest yourself!

Massage makes a great gift. We all know stressed or aching people who would be incredibly grateful to receive one. I have gift certificates available in any denomination starting with $30.

I hope you will consider scheduling your next massage with me. To book an appointment online, go to http://thewell.fullslate.com.

To buy a packet or gift certificate, please call (512-507-4184) or email me (mareynolds27@gmail.com).

Video: Les Miserables goes gluten-free. Hilarious!

Posted on by
Reply

When Marius, Cosette, and Epipen are invited to an allergy-friendly party at the house of Jean Valjean, each must create a dish absent of all possible allergens.

I know how they feel sometimes.

Wise words about loss and presence, joy and gratitude

Posted on by
1

My young, wise Facebook friend Arpita Rose shared this quote. I thought it was so amazing, I wanted to share. I added to my Favorite quotes page too.

You will lose everything. Your money, your power, your fame, your success, perhaps even your memories. Your looks will go. Loved ones will die. Your body will fall apart. Everything that seems permanent is impermanent and will be smashed. Experience will gradually, or not so gradually, strip away everything that it can strip away. Waking up means facing this reality with open eyes and no longer turning away.

But right now, we stand on sacred and holy ground, for that which will be lost has not yet been lost, and realising this is the key to unspeakable joy. Whoever or whatever is in your life right now has not yet been taken away from you. This may sound trivial, obvious, like nothing, but really it is the key to everything, the why and how and wherefore of existence. Impermanence has already rendered everything and everyone around you so deeply holy and significant and worthy of your heartbreaking gratitude.

Loss has already transfigured your life into an altar. ~ Jeff Foster

Inspirational video about the power of belief, yoga, and health

Posted on by
Reply

I love this video about Arthur, a disabled Gulf war vet who felt hopeless and got fat, who was turned down by many yoga teachers. Then he met the manly yoga teacher Diamond Dallas Page, who asked himself:

How am I gonna help that guy?

That’s all it takes from the teacher. Arthur was willing to make an effort and fail:

Just because I can’t do it today doesn’t mean I can’t do it some day.

And that’s all it takes from the student.

I hope it inspires your practice, whether it’s yoga or commitment to any path toward health.

SOS holiday party, silent auction, gift certificates for massage….

Posted on by
Reply

I am really feeling jazzed! I’ve been a supporter for many years of the Save Our Springs Alliance, a local environmental group dedicated to preserving the quality of “the soul of Austin,” Barton Springs.

bartonspringsIf you’re not familiar with Barton Springs, it’s a large spring-fed urban swimming hole with a natural bottom, populated with plants, fish, salamanders, crawdads, and other wildlife, including humans. It’s got a nice view of the downtown skyline and is a must-see stop for tourists.

The water is unchlorinated and cold, and it feels fantastic! It takes courage to get in because it’s so cold (68-70 F. year-round). I am mostly a warm-weather swimmer/snorkeler there,though I’ll do the New Year’s Day polar bear dip if the weather is decent.

Keeping the springs clean and healthy is a challenge in an urban environment, and SOS does a good job.

Every year SOS holds a holiday party and silent auction. It’s one of the best nonprofit parties around, with good food, live music and dancing, an excellent silent auction, and lots of fun people.

This year for the first time, I had something to donate to the silent auction. I donated an Ashiatsu gift certificate for a 90-minute session. I stopped by the SOS office, my first time there, to drop it off and was warmly welcomed by Pat and Bill and recognized as a long-time member.

Wow, I wasn’t expecting that!

Anyway, if you’re interested, come to the party and bid on an Ashiatsu session with me and whatever else you like! It’s Thursday, Dec. 6, 6 pm-midnight, at Mercury Hall. Here are the details.

I also have massage and Ashiatsu gift certificates available for purchase. You choose the denomination — my sessions start at 30 minutes, and recipients can always upgrade to add more time.